Turkish military returns to 1930s practices due to unending post-coup purges, report says

Similar to the post-Independence War period and the early 1930s in Turkey, most brigades are now commanded by colonels and captains due to a lack of generals and admirals in the military since thousands of high-ranking officers were purged following a failed coup last summer, a daily reported on Monday.

According to the report by the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the position of “tuğbay” – which was used for colonels and captains who command brigades in the 1930s – has made a comeback in the Turkish military, which previously used it in the post-Independence War period due to the lack of high-ranking officers.

The Manisa 1st Infantry Training Brigade Command, which is also known as the Colonel Arif Seyhun Barracks, is now commanded by Col. Güven Dere, Cumhuriyet said.

Arif Seyhun was a Turkish colonel who served as a tuğbay in the 1930s.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt last July in which 249 people died.

Despite Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the Gülen movement, and the movement having denied the accusations, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

According to a tally by TurkeyPurge.com, 138,148 people, including some 10,000 soldiers, had been dismissed from their jobs, 115,827 were detained and 55,425 jailed over alleged links to the movement as of July 10.